Japan Watch: iBook G4 Hits #2 on Sales Charts


Two iBook models have made the Japanese sales charts' top 20, with the iBook 1GHz coming in at # 2. Another model is at # 18.

Computer models move from hot to not very quickly in Japan. Just a couple of weeks ago, the newly-revamped PowerBook G4-12 and G4-15" had made an early impact on the top 20 just days following their release.

Apple will keep making the G4 desktop Power Macs for as long as there's demand for them, Steve Jobs and Phil Schiller have said. That's good, because the dual-boot, dual-processor Power Mac G4/1.25GHz is still selling strongly enough in Japan to just crack the top 20 in sales.

Although iMac sales have slowed (the 17" model was a big seller in Japan in 2003), the eMac is still holding the fort at equal # 14. This is the 1.25GHz SuperDrive-equipped model.

Analysis: Apple hasn't quite killed OS 9 booting yet. And those old PMs must be all profit, with cheap G4s from Moto. We'd be interested to know US and other markets' sales figures for the old G4 towers. And they're not bad boxes for the money.